The Concerts You Should See This Week

We pick them, you buy the tickets

July 28, 2010

The Maine

Who says youth is wasted on the young? The Maine began in 2007, when most of the band's members were freshly graduated from their Tempe high school. Naming themselves after a song by their favorite band, Ivory, the Maine set up a MySpace page and built an audience the new-fashioned way (they've since racked up 77 million plays), with some additional old-school word-of-mouth. Within months, the Maine were drawing sizable crowds and released a pair of EPs with their pop-punk translation of '90s rock influences. They released their debut album, Can't Stop Won't Stop, in 2008, followed by a band journal packed with pics, This Is Real Life, last year. Their second album, Black and White (titled in tribute to guitarist Kennedy Brock's total color blindness), has just been released, and they're hitting the road for their first headlining tour. It's only a matter of time before these kids figure out how to fix that oil leak. — BrianBaker

No matter what you toss into Gogol Bordello's gypsy-punk stew, it's gonna taste pretty much the same. Some seasoning may make it a little spicier; hints of a different worldly flavor may tickle your tongue. But it's the same tasty dish you've been eating the past few years. For their latest album, Trans-Continental Hustle, the collective — nine members strong these days, led by mustachioed wild man Eugene Hütz — traveled to Brazil with producer Rick Rubin. And while their sound is beefier and the flavor is tangier, the Ukrainian-born Hütz's thick, spitting accent drops you right in the middle of a gypsy campfire hootenanny all the same. Trans-Continental Hustle is the band's best CD, and it's even introspective at times (I know — "introspective" doesn't often come up when you're talking about the sweaty, shirtless, and slurring Hütz). On record, it all sounds like a drunken out-of-control party. Can't wait to hear what it sounds like in concert. —Michael GallucciGogol Bordello, with Primus. 7 p.m. Tuesday, August 3. Time Warner Cable Amphitheater. Tickets: $36.50; call 216-522-4822 or go to livenation.com.

Bear in Heaven

Founded by John Philpot in 2003, Brooklyn's Bear in Heaven have seen a steady procession of members filter in and out over the years. That sorta explains why 2009's Beast Rest Forth Mouth is only the band's second album. In addition to the revolving-door membership, the group has a tendency to tinker with its songs. Sometimes it's necessary: Multi-instrumentalist Sadek Bazaraa recently left Bear, so they returned to the studio to rework some things. That tweaking is also the driving force behind their upcoming remix project, which will be included as a second disc in a repackaged Beast Rest Forth Mouth

that comes out in September with High Places, the Field, Jesu, and others reimagining the album's songs. Bear in Heaven's synth-driven tracks suit the remix process: "Lovesick Teenagers"'s Krautrock pulse and "Beast in Peace"'s throbbing drums and giant chorus already sound a little like dance cuts. (Bear in Heaven are familiar with the other side of the mixing board too, having rewired Crystal Castles' "Celestica.") Whether it stems from necessity or just for the fun of it, the remixes add another level to this busy band's slowly growing catalog. — Chris Drabick

With a smartass name like Gringo Star, you'd probably think this Atlanta quartet churns out archly ironic post-punk. But Gringo Star explode with a sound similar to the stripped-down bluesabilly rave-ups that horrified adults and adrenalized teens within earshot of the Animals and Kinks' stomping grounds in the '60s. They were originally known as A Fir-Ju Well — a phonetic reading of frontman multi-instrumentalist Nick Furgiuele and his guitarist brother Peter's surname. They thankfully changed their moniker in 2006, a year before their debut EP came out. Their first album, 2008's All Y'All, was packed with lightly polished gems of raucous Americana and psych-garage-rock goodness, referencing their love of Sun Records, Sam Cooke, Buddy Holly, and British blues translators of the '60s, but without the kitsch most bands bring to these retro sounds. So far, 2010 has been a big year for Gringo Star: A pair of Dallas filmmakers followed them on their European tour with ... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead for the documentary Hurry Up & Wait, which premiered at South by Southwest, and

All Y'All is prepping for its European release. —BakerGringo Star, with Imitating Sounds. 9 p.m. Saturday, July 31. Beachland Tavern. Tickets: $7; call 216-383-1124 or go to beachlandballroom.com.

Rogue Wave

Rogue Wave have had to overcome some pretty tough obstacles over the past few years: the tragic death of a former bandmate, a kidney transplant, and a spinal-cord problem that numbed one of the members' hands. So it's all the more surprising that they craft such peaceful pop songs that feature the sound of chirping birds. Out of the Shadow, their 2004 debut, is full of happy tunes like "Nourishment Nation," which gleefully declares "one more bite until we go" on top of chiming bells and simple guitar strumming. On the new Permalight, Rogue Wave step away from their sweet acoustic music toward a more danceable set of songs. Frontman Zach Rogue incorporates electronic beats and plenty of vivacious synths that blast in several different directions. He was confined to playing his lightest instrument, a Sears Silvertone guitar, after slipping two disks in his neck a couple years ago. The Oakland-based band recorded Permalight while Rogue's right hand was still numb. But Rogue Wave sound more alive than ever. Get ready for handclaps and smiles — onstage and off — when the band comes to town this week.

— Danielle Sills

Rogue Wave, with Gamble House and the Modern Electric. 9 p.m. Tuesday, August 3. Grog Shop. Tickets: $15, $13 in advance; call 216-321-5588 or go to grogshop.gs.